Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices slump as strong dollar hits demand

I write about energy and industrials for City A.M. I'm particularly interested in geopolitics, energy policy and, of course, the ever lively oil markets.

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Russia warned over optimistic oil market forecasts (Source: Getty)

Jessica Morris

Oil prices slumped today, dragged down by the strong dollar and Russia's warning that the the global oversupply could last longer than expected.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 0.5 per cent to $47.9 per barrel this morning. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, shed 0.8 per cent to $46.3 per barrel.

Russia said yesterday that recent production stoppages in the Americas, Asia and Africa would wipeout the global production and storage glut which has piled pressure onto oil prices.

"(The outlook that the market won't balance until the first half of 2017) is an optimistic forecast as oversupply persists and the decline in production volumes is slower than analysts expected," he said.

Crude, which is traded in dollars, also came under pressure from the strong greenback which makes it more expensive for buyers who are using a foreign currency, potentially reducing demand.

"A stronger US dollar came up against more positive fundamentals, due to a fall in US oil productions," analysts at ANZ bank wrote in a note.